Harry Potter & The Ghosts of Time: Book 6 & A Half
by acciopointeshoes
Summary: A somewhat short story that takes place between HP books 6 and 7... hence the half. Harry may realize that breaking up with Ginny was a mistake... but who will be the ones to help him realize that? GHOSTS? Funny and Romantic and Emotional
1. Love Beyond Death

Harry Potter and The Ghosts of Time: Book 6 ½  
**disclaimer:** this is J.K.Rowling's world, unfortunately, I just live in it.

Chapter 1: Love Beyond Death

Harry Potter had grown up extraordinarily fast over the past 6 years. He physically changed from boy to man. His jet-black hair and radiant green eyes stayed the same, but his years of playing Quidditch shown clearly on his muscular arms and legs. He was thin, but no longer the scrawny little boy Dudley Dursley could slaughter. His jet-black hair looked messy, as usual, but it suited him rather well. His green eyes were beyond beautiful, and his jaw became squared, making him look truly manly. But more importantly, he grew emotionally. He perhaps suffered more greatly than many wizards alike, and yet he endured. Every year of his life, he had proven to be a living miracle.

In times of mourning great people's deaths like this, he would usually sleep restlessly throughout the night, experiencing nightmares, like he had when Sirius and Cedric had passed. However, tonight he lay dozed in a heavy dream-free sleep. After all, he had just finished a very long and sad day with his Professor's funeral.

But around 12 o'clock in the morning, an icy cold feeling engulfed the small room in which he slept, waking him up at once. It wasn't the cold feeling of wind coming through the window, but more of a bone chilling feeling throughout the body, like someone placed ice down your back.

Slowly walking towards Harry was quite a spectrum—literally! He couldn't believe his eyes, his emotions over the past few days must have been getting to him! The spectrum ghost was none other than the great wizard, Albus Dumbledore. Too shocked to say anything, Harry chocked over words and was continually pinching himself. Then he sighed and thought to himself. _When will I learn that magic means anything can happen?_

"Right you are Harry!" Professor Dumbledore's ghost answered Harry's thought.

Harry smiled. Dumbledore's ghost could still perform Ligilmancy. That wizard never failed to impress him.

"Now Harry, you must be wondering exactly _why _I am a ghost," Dumbledore finally spoke after moments passed with them both staring, "I had something very important to straighten out with you, that couldn't be covered in my will."

"What is it Professor?"

"Harry, I'm sorry to say this, but I am no longer your professor, it is time to realize the obvious and move on. You should also move along with another person, a young lady, to be specific."

Harry shuffled in his bed and couldn't look into Dumbledore's crystal blue eyes, it was too hard. He remembered the previous day when he had lost two very important people he loved. Ginny meant the world to him. But he had to stick with his answer. Voldemort would put harm in her way as soon as he found out Harry's feelings towards her. He had to put his love aside.

"Do not protest me Harry, you can't push love out of your life. Remember what I said! It is your protection against Lord Voldemort, and you must learn to live, love, and laugh. That is why I am here, and not enjoying the pleasures of life after death. I care for you Harry just like everyone else, and many people are trying to help you. You, unfortunately, push them away. Not only Ginny, but also your true friends Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger. Listen to me Harry," Dumbledore sat next to Harry on his bed, "I invited some friends of mine over to help convince you to open up your life. At exactly one o'clock this morning, another ghost will come on the hour. Then, as the next hour arrives, you will have another visitor. At three o'clock you will have your last visitor."

Harry stared in amazement. This seemed oddly familiar.

"Dumbledore," Harry finally said, "can't you stay and visit?"

"No I cannot Harry, for I am only temporarily a ghost for tonight. It was another one of my smarter ideas like the Mirror of Erised," he answered blushing as Harry nodded in agreement, "I will tell you one last thing, Harry. Remember that I will always be with you along with Sirius, your mother and father, you can find us in your heart. And when you desperately love someone it hurts, Harry, you are defeating Voldemort in a way he cannot cast out. Look for love deeper Harry, look deeper."

As he said those last three words, Dumbledore's ghostly silver body vanished into a mist and disappeared through the window.

Harry rushed to the window to wave goodbye forever, but knew now that Dumbledore was gone. Nothing could be done to stop it, but this time Harry accepted it. He slumped onto his bed, but then he smiled, for on his desk appeared the great and wonderful pensieve. Harry figured Dumbledore must have given it to him, and in the vapor-liquid swirled a memory of Dumbledore winking at Harry. Soon Harry found himself wrapped in another great sleep.

Before long, the alarm clock on the nightstand struck one, and again the icy feeling of death filled the room. Another ghost had appeared through the window.

Author's note: just a REALLY short chapter to start it off, REALLY hope all you Ginny/Harry and Ron/Hermione shippers will like this story. I'm working my butt off! So, I promise the chapters will get longer, and include cliff hangers leaving you dying to find out what happens next!


	2. Cedric's Advice

**disclaimer: **sighs all jkr's...

Chapter 2: Cedric's Advice

4 Privet Drive now had another ghost guest, but it was not unexpected. Dumbledore always was true to his word, and the ghost visitor he announced would arrive at one o'clock sharp was standing, or rather floating in the midst of the window. The glowing spectrum looked very handsome, with the sheer curtains blowing against his tall, well-built body, and he had the kind, familiar face of a teenager Harry once knew. It was Cedric Diggory. Perhaps one of the bravest, smartest and most popular Hufflepuffs Hogwarts ever had. As Harry looked at Cedric's ghost, the night in the graveyard replayed in his mind.

"I know what you are thinking Harry, without even using Ligilmancy," Cedric finally spoke walking slowly towards Harry.

"In fact, the main reason Dumbledore wanted me to be your first mentor was to relieve yourself of the burden of still believing everything is your fault," He continued.

"Mentor?" Harry replied stupidly.

"You need help, Harry, and that's what mentors are for. Not only help with relieving you of your personal burdens, but to learn a way to help relieve your friends of _their _burdens. We really can't sit around though, because there are shadows of the past you must see. Harry, you are a strong and skilled boy, I've seen you when we competed. However, you have failed to digest what Dumbledore, your _WISE PROFESSOR_, once said to you. Have you forgotten that love is your greatest ambush against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Cedric sighed and went on, "These shadows are something you should not take lightly. They are key to the present and future of the world. Harry, have you realized that the future of the wizarding world lies in your hands? What would Dumbledore do?"

Harry took a large gulp of air. Finally speaking up, he replied confidently, "Dumbledore would have wanted to be well prepared, well educated, and fully aware of everything. Can you show me these 'shadows'?"

"Grab my robes, Harry."

Harry didn't think twice about what Cedric had said, and so he touched the transparent robes that Cedric wore on his ghostly body. Almost in an instant, they swirled and sped off through the night, traveling through what seemed like fog and mist. The sensation was like falling into the pensieve, only there was no destination and no inkling of where they were headed. All was black. Finally after what seemed like an hour, they landed gracefully in an area of crisp fields and wilderness. Harry recognized it at once as the hill where they had taken the portkey to the Quidditch World Cup. The Burrow was only a short distance away. Harry followed Cedric, who was in fact heading in the Burrow's direction.

"Oh, and Harry," Cedric said as they got closer to the Burrow, "don't try and make contact with the Weasleys. I must remind you, this is a shadow of the past, it has already happened. They cannot see or hear us. It is like we are wearing invisibility cloaks."

Harry nodded and Cedric walked through the front door of the house followed by Harry. Harry was far more interested in the fact that he walked through a solid object than Cedric was.

Inside the burrow, Harry saw himself from the past and the Weasleys sitting down at the table eating breakfast. Everyone looked about five years younger. Ron, Harry and Mr. Weasley were chatting, Percy was drawling on and on to Mrs. Weasley probably about work, and Fred and George were sneakily slipping what looked like dead beetles and dragon dung into Percy's bowl of porridge. Harry chuckled at the sight, but noticed Ginny wasn't at the table. Just as he thought this, he saw Ginny running down the Burrow's stairs in her nightdress. Ginny cheerily entered the kitchen area, but stopped very suddenly when her eyes turned to Harry from the past. The look on her face was almost pure terror. Without saying anything or explaining herself, she ran back up the stairs, faster than lighting and disappeared from sight.

Ron mumbled something like, "Ginny fancies you. She's been talking about you all summer…", but before Harry could hear the rest, everything went black again, and Harry felt the swirling sensation again. They were heading for another shadow, he figured.

He was right, but they were once again in the Burrow, in the kitchen. Everyone was at the table this time, including Ginny. They were all having a good time, and chewing the delicious food that Mrs. Weasley cooked.

The younger Harry asked Ginny, "Can you please pass the gravy?" The younger Ginny blushed profusely and started for the gravy, but could not take her eyes of Harry. She accidentally stuck her elbow into the butter dish! Fred and George laughed along with the others, but the younger Harry just smiled. The other Harry smiled too, as he watched this memory. Ginny had a crush on him since before her first year! He never realized how long and loyal Ginny's love was for him. As he thought this, he felt a pang of guilt fill his chest. _Why did I have to hurt her like that, breaking up with her on the spot? She'll probably never forgive me_. _I shouldn't belong in Gryffindor if I'm not loyal to her and show I can be brave. She most think I'm such a coward!_

Harry pondered over these thoughts as he sat down (or at least tried to, seeing as he's a ghost), but before long Cedric beckoned him over.

"Harry, the time has come to leave this memory and visit another. We cannot spend all night wallowing on one memory or my trip has been useless."

Harry was too afraid to admit he'd been thinking of Ginny the whole time so he just shrugged it off. He replied in an unnaturally high-pitched voice,

"Let's go!"

Once again they were off spinning and swirling. And now Harry was left with no idea where he was headed, no idea of what would become of his life, and no idea of how a few break-up words could change his future…


	3. Harry's First Kiss Again

**disclaimer:** Yeah, everyone knows by now, I AM NOT JKR, THESE ARE HER CHARACTERS... yada yada yada

Chapter 3: Harry's First Kiss

"Ouch!" Harry said cringing as he hit the ground. i Being invisible and flying through time at warp speed sure kills your arse! i

"You'll get used to it by the end of your trips through time Harry," said Cedric, who seemed to read Harry's thoughts by his expression.

"What else are you going to show me? My parents? The future?" Harry asked curiously, then adding a more mature tone he said, "Like in i A Christmas Carol i by Charles Dickens?"

"Nah. Not me anyways. You'll have two or I should say… well… I can't really tell…" Cedric answered, then added, "Let's just say you won't see me the whole night."

Harry hadn't realized it, but throughout this whole conversation he had been walking through Hogwarts automatically even though he hadn't yet realized where he was. When he noticed they were in the vast, Great Hall, he stopped suddenly. i How I miss Hogwarts already… actually… how I miss my friends and… Ginny. i Harry's heart skipped a couple beats and his insides were doing the cha cha slide.

He took a deep sigh and watched as Cedric stared around at the many students that had been sitting in the Great Hall. He looked longingly towards the Hufflepuff table and found himself from the past laughing with his friends Walt and Derrick. Then he noticed his first crush, a very pretty girl named Chelsea who was in Ravenclaw. He shook is head and laughed at himself. How i he i missed Hogwarts as well. Harry was glad Cedric was focused on his old friends rather than the friends he had been looking at dejectedly.

A first-year Hermione Granger with frizzier hair than usual was talking with a first-year Ron Weasley with vibrant, wavy, red hair. They were two people easy to distinguish on the Gryffindor table. Seated next to them happened to be a first-year Harry who was smiling broader than ever. Harry heard bits and pieces of the conversation which was mostly on Neville's behavior in Herbology. Apparently, Neville had answered five questions in a row and then jumped up and down when Professor Sprout said they'd be working with Greensickler Memphosaks next. When he jumped too high, he accidentally landed in the Butober Pus seedlings and, well…

Harry remembered just how wonderful his first year had been. That's when he had met Hermione and Ron and they had been best friends ever since. i Well, I guess I can't say that right now, on account that I've been treating them like rubbish lately. I have barely talked to them-- let alone laughed with them-- since, Dumbledore's funeral. I should really write to them and explain everything. Hermione would really appreciate that. She's always fussing with me to keep in touch more… i

"Harry, I think we can leave this memory now. We have to finish the last before two o'clock," Cedric said, interrupting Harry's thoughts.

Harry saw one last glimpse of that memory before zooming off once again. Fred and George had joined the trio and were unmistakably running away what seemed like a female Snape with a pink dress and VERY red lipstick...

By now, Harry landed in the last memory of the past very skillfully. I Figures, the last memory with Cedric to FINALLY prove that I am strong enough to land properly/I They were in Hogwarts again, but now near the Gryffindor Common Room. No one was in sight, but faint voices could be heard. Harry saw himself from the past finally arrive from around the corner where he and Cedric were standing. This Harry from the past didn't look young at all. It was the almost 17-year-old Harry, Harry in sixth year. Cedric motioned for Harry to follow himself into the common room where he was headed. Harry from the past seemed to be just as excited as Harry from the future. What would happen in the common room?

The Portrait of the fat lady noticed still-in-sixth-year Harry's anxious expression and slyly said, "You'll see," as Harry gave her the password. Into the portrait hole the group walked and into a loud party they appeared! Everyone was shouting cheers for Gryffindor and Quidditch. Just then, Ginny Weasley came bounding down towards Harry with a fierce blazing look on her face. She grasped Harry in a tight hug, and before he knew it, Harry-in-his-sixth-year kissed her like there was no tomorrow.

Author's Note: YAY! I finally got to write that part. When I read it, it sounds kinda lame, so sry if u think that 2! But… in the new chappie, there'll be more fluff on the kiss! Mwah! P.S. PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS AND I'LL LOVE YOU!


	4. Girl Troubles

**disclaimer: **you know by now... harry, ginny, and everyone else AREN'T mine. pssh. i know, it sucks.

Chapter 4- Girl Troubles

The kiss surpassed affection on so many levels. It was pure love. Sharing one breath and feeling the beating of each other's hearts. Harry's hand reached Ginny's cheek and he slowly caressed it. It was soft as a dove's feathers and her lips were too lush, too rich. It slowed down time yet sped it up. It seemed to end too soon, and as they separated the world shifted back into place. Ron gave a little nudge of his head that Harry remembered to mean 'If you have to'. At that moment, Harry didn't have a care in the world.

_It all seemed right then. Another battle now fought in Harry's head as he and Cedric watched this memory. I Ginny will be safe though. I love her. I love Ginny. Ginny loves me. Oh, aren't we all one big happy family. No, seriously Harry, is Ginny really happy now? No. I love her more than ever. I wish I could kiss her now and feel her lips. Gentle. I remember now. I can feel it again for real. The kiss was gentle like Ginny, but so tender is felt like fire—shimmering—not burning. Like her red hair. Her smile. That I made vanish. Great, Harry, great. I put business over love._

Harry hadn't realized it, but he was now back at the Dursleys and Cedric gone. Just like that. He wondered what Dumbledore had been thinking, having Cedric, of all people, show him that memory. It didn't seem right, and even though it was summertime back at the Dursleys, the most feverish place on earth, Harry felt cold and disappointed. He felt like his heart had been touched with cold water. He sat down on his bed and the weight of the world seemed to be on his back.

_This is so much worse than seeing old Voldemort_.

Pulling up the covers, Harry tried to fall back asleep, but he just couldn't. There was too much on his mind… mostly Ginny.

_I wish Cedric could have explained the whole purpose of that memory. I mean, come on…_

_Why did Dumbledore choose Cedric? He's not like my best friend or anything._

"I wonder who'll be next—Nearly Headless Nick," Harry laughed to himself but hadn't realized who just walked (or more like floated) through the window.

"Harry, my own godson, calling me headless! An outrage! Harry you have obviously changed," said the ghost laughing merrily.

"Sirius!" Harry jumped from his bed and ran over to give Sirius a hug. Not until he felt ice up his sleeves did he remember it was only a ghost. Looking up at the laughing, long-haired ghost, Harry smiled. Sirius was still as handsome as ever.

"Sirius, I am so glad to see you… even if it is just your apparition! I feel so worried!" Harry said after the two men shared a look at each other

"Girl troubles Harry? Yes, Dumbledore told me about your problems. I thought you'd be a playa like James at your age, but I guess Ginny is too beautiful for you."

Harry frowned when Sirius mentioned "Girl Troubles", and then became more depressed when he mentioned Ginny's name. Changing the subject, Harry asked, "What exactly happened to you at the ministry in that—that veil? I have been wondering forever!"

"Well Harry, let's just say I was in there forever. Literally. I'll even have to return there after I do my whole "shpiel". Harry, as much as I'd like to talk about guy stuff, I have to follow Dumbledore's orders. He knows what he's doing. So, let's be off before we waste more time!"

Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and once again Harry went zooming off into a piece of mind that isn't quite peaceful, and he was feeling a little bit better, having his godfather right beside him.

****

authors note: yep, thats it. pretty short, but i think sirius deserves a chapter for himself, dont you?

**AND NO MORE CHAPTERS UNTIL PEOPLE START REVIEWING! I DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE TO DO THIS!**


	5. MEMO

Okay, a LOT of people have been reading and checking out my fanfic. GREAT!

NO ONE HAS LEFT AN EFFING (pardon my French) REVIEW. NOT SO GREAT!

. . . in fact, that's terrible! I even asked you all at the end of the previous chapter to send one!

TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE FANFIC!

I **NEED** FEEDBACK!

PLEASE!

I AM BEGGING YOU!

NO MORE CHAPTERS

THAT'S RIGHT

NO MORE CHAPTERS UNLESS SOME PEOPLE REVIEW!

LIKE NOW!


End file.
